


Indigo Blue

by rumirix



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Human Allura, Human Coran, M/M, Marine Biologist Pidge, Mermaid Performer Pidge, Mermaid performer Hunk, Merman Shiro, Purely self indulgent mermaid fic, Shatt, That is really just focused on the whole mermaid thing because guys, klance, mermaid lance, mermaids are great, merman Keith, minor ish character death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-30
Updated: 2017-10-11
Packaged: 2019-01-07 03:42:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12225042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rumirix/pseuds/rumirix
Summary: The ocean was vast, beautiful, and deadly. It nurtured massive currents that would drag out unsuspecting creatures, and beings who lurked for a millenia hidden in its depths.Despite the terror the seas held, they had been Lance’s home.





	1. Abyss: Before it Happened

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enter Lance, an insufferably curious mermaid. This particular chapter is more of a prologue, testing the waters if you will. It's much shorter than future chapters are planned to be, and is more for giving background. The actual story will begin in chapter 2.

__

a·byss  
əˈbis/  
noun  
noun: abyss; plural noun: abysses  
a deep or seemingly bottomless chasm.

 

There was something about the playful waves dancing near the shore that enchanted Lance. The soft ripples and rumbles from rolling stones and silt-soft beaches were nothing if not a beacon to the young merman. The clear water stood in stark contrast to the kelp forests he called his home.

Lance was born in the kelp beds offshore, his pod’s primary territory. The giant plants provided shelter and hunting grounds for the mer, making it an ideal location to raise young. Lance was nearing migration age, almost ready to finally join his elder pod members on their journey across the open ocean. This stretch and test was a way that all young mer proved their worth. They would swim for a whole season to reach their destination, reaching their ancient courting grounds in hopes of finding a favorable mate. It was a journey mermaids and men alike looked forward to their whole lives, the opportunity to see the oceans in their glory and find the pod they were destined to be with, the other halves of their soul. 

With the great journey so close at hand, Lance was getting a little antsy. The already energetic mer patrolled the close waters with fervor as he tested his endurance, trilling and singing through the waves as his fins took him further each day. It was a common practice among young mermaids, curiously testing their fins in preparation for the open ocean. But even as a usual occurrence, while Lance was swimming, he had a tendency to lose track of his location and time. Which brought him to his current situation. 

Lance’s fins trailed along the sandy bottom near the beach, bright eyes observing the creatures lounging on or near the shore. His pod tended to call them no-fins, but they were formally referred to as humans. Despite their lack of aquatic agility, they were still counted among local threats, and wise mermaids avoided them. Part of Lance’s ‘charm’ as he liked to put it was his curiosity. His family referred to it as a death wish. Either way, this curiosity was what had brought him so close to shore today. The sandy beaches tended to attract humans in flocks, where they would lounge about on the soft sand or use their strange fins to smack the water. It was nothing short of amusing to watch them, their society not so different from his own. The no-fins often brought their pups to the shallow water, chasing them or teaching them how to hunt little crabs. This behavior made sense to Lance, as he had once been taught a similar strategy by his parents. However, when the no-fins dumped their prey out again he was baffled. 

_Why spend so much effort catching the morsels if not to eat them? Humans are truly strange._ Lance thought, considering the creatures before him once more before diving deeper into the water, his dorsal fin cutting cleanly through the open ocean as he sped away. He neared the edge of the shallows fairly quickly, searching for fish and crabs along the divide. Nutrients that swept up from the deep often attracted some of the larger crustacean species. Lance personally hoped to find another giant crab like the previous cold period.  
It appeared luck was not on his side, and the blue-tailed mer clicked in irritation. His efforts had only produced a few meager crabs, barely worth the effort it took to locate them. He grumpily cracked their shells in his teeth, swallowing chunks of the crabs while slowly treading water. His shockingly blue tail shimmered in the darker water, stripes of silver and red contrasting even more to the abyss beside him. 

His gentle strokes eventually shifted to more agitated twitching as he finished the last crab, popping the shell shards into his mouth with a huff. He would have to hunt more later, likely closer to the kelp forest. He hated having to rely on the forest, not wanting to burden his pod by depleting their already shrinking food supply. Lance would consider the issue of food again later, since right now was the perfect time to spy on the stretch of land commonly occupied by no-fins. For some reason after the fire in the sky had started to recede back into the sea the humans would disappear for long periods, excluding a few stragglers who would stay behind. These were often preoccupied with the wonders the tides left on the beaches, though, so they were not a huge concern to Lance. 

The young mermaid flicked his fins and began his daily excursion towards the shore, fully intent on picking at any of the strange items that the no-fins tended to lose in the water. Something was different that day, though. One of the no-fin's floating devices appeared to be floating gently by the shore, an unusual sight to say the least. The lone vessel bobbed gently in the water, moving rather slowly over the top of the waves. Lance had never seen one of these floating machines so close to shore before. Typically they would lurk out in the deeper parts, their loud spinners echoing through the water for miles. But this one was oddly silent, piquing Lance’s interest more than the usual no-fin treasures alongshore. The metal thing was slowly moving away from the beaches, pulled by the currents rather than a noise machine. There appeared to be a few no-fins on board, wearing strange black skins over their bodies. Some of them had smooth coral and reflective hard water on their heads, which confused Lance. As far as he knew they all seemed to breathe from there. However, this did not truly alarm him until one of the no-fins sat on the edge of the boat, leaned back, and dropped into the water below. Lance chirped in alarm, tail thrashing anxiously as he watched the creature rapidly sink.

 _No-fins are terrible swimmers! That one will die if it remains in the water!_ Lance thought, his hands twitching at his sides. He wanted to race forward and save the no-fin, but they looked like...they were not struggling. In fact, this one kicked out its legs and Lance noted the dark paddle-fins that seemed to blend into the black of the no-fin’s second skin. _How odd._

Lance observed the no-fin for what seemed like an eternity, carefully staying out of its very limited sight range. It appeared to be taking something from the sea-floor, though Lance never swam close enough to find out what. This continued for a while, Lance observing the bubbles the no-fin exhaled through its strange smooth coral, and the no-fin picking at the sand. It was not enough to hold the young mermaid’s attention forever, and he was just turning to leave when he felt it. The sharp crackling through the water that only meant one thing. 

Whipping back around, Lance was horrified to note that the spinner on the bottom of the boat was being activated. The little no-fin seemed oblivious to this fact, continuing to swim along the bottom of the sea. Lance trilled out a warning note, having heard stories of how the spinners had sucked up fish into their sharp blades and spat them out again in innumerable pieces. He did not wish for this to happen to this no-fin. He called out again, this time a louder warning cry. He was confused why the human showed no reaction, Lance's echoing cries even startling their creator when they bounced back. The no-fin was making no sign of moving, and Lance reacted almost instinctively as he felt the current began to _pull_. He steeled himself and rushed towards the creature, his tail thrusting through the water with as much power as he could muster. 

Lance’s arms wrapped around the middle of the no-fin, dragging it up from the water with little resistance and with a final stroke of his tail, launching it into its metal machine. The no-fin shouted in surprise as Lance reentered the water, his trajectory sending him underneath the metal device. Straight into the pathway of the spinning blades. His eyes widened in terror, and before he could process what was going on, he felt something hit his back. Lance’s vision went dark in an instant, and he felt himself begin to sink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello anyone who happened to stumble across...this? I've never published something before, nor do I have a beta, so this is mainly just the rambles of someone who wants to see more mermaid AUs. Drop me a comment and I will love you forever.


	2. Mournful: Dealing with Boredom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is bored.

mourn·ful  
ˈmôrnfəl/  
adjective  
feeling, expressing, or inducing sadness, regret, or grief.

Lance’s tail thumped a soft beat against the plastic material of his tank. His gentle breaths flickered through his gills every so often, tiny bubbles of carbon and oxygen drifting from them towards the top of the pool.

He was bored. This was nothing new, but today in particular he felt acutely aware of his surroundings and predicament. The barren walls of his empty tank stared back at him as he continued to smack his tail impatiently into them. 

It had been at least a full moon-cycle since his sail fin was struck by the blades of the ‘boat,’ as the humans called it. Lance could not remember much of the beginning of this time, most of it was hazy flashes of pain and the yelling of the no-fins as they struggled to keep him together. Struggled to put him back together. 

They hadn’t been entirely successful. 

The dull throbbing along his spine attested to this fact, a now permanent reminder of the missing part of him. His sail was gone, a few spines near the base of his tail now all that remained of the essential fin. It had been huge, fragile, and oh so important. A sail was used to attract a mate. It was a comforting weight pressed against his back, a threatening display when Lance was frightened. And now it was gone. There would be no more wild races through the kelp, no more close calls near the coast. Even if Lance had been back in his home, he knew he wouldn’t have been okay. He was young, supposed to be one of the strong swimmers who would make their way across the ocean to find a mate. Not a slow and clumsy adolescent who struggled to swim in a circle. Even if he could have gone back to his pod, he just would have been a burden. So Lance denied the idea entirely, resigning himself to staying in the empty no-fin pool.

Despite this resignation, he was in no way inclined to continue being THIS BORED. It was taking all the young mer had to not throw himself out of the tank. The last time he had done that the humans had chastised him quite a bit, which resulted in some clarification on what some of their words meant. Oxygen and Carbon were what made up the clear air above the water. If he stayed out in the air away from water for too long, he’d die. Lance could have easily told them that, everyone knew that being stranded on a beach could kill. But he had allowed the humans to lecture him with a roll of his eyes. 

So he knew where leaving the tank would bring him, but gave the idea serious consideration regardless. He was preparing to jump when he heard the telltale creak of a door, vibrations reaching his tank as it swung open. Lance stilled suddenly, an idea popping into his head. With a sly grin, he tucked himself up into a sleeping position, and waited.

He didn’t have to sit long before the human approached his tank, checking in on him. One second Lance was serenely laying on the bottom of the tank, the next he was launching himself out of the water to grab the human and drag them into the pool with him.

Obviously, the human wasn’t too pleased with this and- she, Lance realized, made that abundantly clear by her shrieks. Her rumbly voice reverberated through the water as Lance released her, leaving her near the top of the pool while he drifted below. 

_Well, that was not nearly as entertaining as I would have hoped._ Lance thought, observing as the human swam as fast as she could towards the edge. Another pair of arms reached into the water to help her up, and Lance cheekily lunged for her heels as she scrambled out. He surfaced a little way away from the edge, chittering and clicking in amusement. The humans did not seem as pleased about this development as he did. The female looked angry, though that was justified. But the male who had come to help was giving him a look of quiet consideration before his expression suddenly shifted to disbelief.

Which was quickly followed by laughter.

Lance cocked his head to the side in surprise as he watched in confusion, the soaking wet human mimicking his expression. The laughing male said something to her that Lance could not begin to understand, but the girl seemed to get it and soon joined the male in his mirth. 

Now Lance was thoroughly confused and slightly grumpy. _What are they laughing at. Can’t they see I’m still here?_ Lance thought, thrashing his tail slightly harder to tread water a little higher in the air. 

“Helllooo.” He crowed, the guttural greeting meant to be more sarcastic than anything. His mimicry of English was not the best, but it did seem to get the attention of the chuckling humans. They both returned their gazes to him, eyes still sparkling and dewy from their amusement. The male said something too quiet for Lance to pick up on above water to the female, and she got up to leave while the male turned his attention on Lance.

In a few easy strides the human male reached the tank, leaning over the edge and watching Lance. He waited for a moment before a huge smile split across his face. Lance considered him for a moment, and then the man began to speak.

“Hello to you as well! We were a bit worried about you pulling through alright after the propeller sliced through your fins, but you made it through like a champ!” The man said, a hint of laughter still in his tone. Lance realized that he vaguely recognized this human, before it dawned on him. This one. This had been the one he had pulled from the water so long ago. Lance had not seen him since that day. While Lance had a moment of understanding, the human continued to prattle away. He only began focusing again when the human stopped spouting off about some magical ‘cape,’ the tone suddenly changing to a more serious one.

“...Really, you need to be more careful. You’re lucky that Allura didn’t strike at you, your wounds are still fresh enough that they could open back up. Split you right in half. And that would be rather ugly.” The man lectured, continuing with that gentle smile again. “I know you’re getting bored now that you’ve been awake long enough to play. But we have got to leave you in here just a little while longer. Oh! I have an idea. Why don’t you and I play with one of these pool toys?” The man asked, wandering away from the edge of the tank towards a more decorated corner of the room. Lance followed his movements in the tank, curiously watching as the man rummaged in one of the storage boxes for a bit before letting out a loud “AH-HAH!” which had Lance hurriedly ducking back under the water. 

But then leisurely footsteps were approaching the tank, and something was dropped in with a soft ‘plop.’ Lance watched with wide eyes as the object sank to the bottom, an odd curve to its motion before settling. He hesitantly swam towards it, tail flicking gently through the water as he stalked the object. When he reached it he ran his fingers across it, noting the similar texture to the tank he currently resided in. He wrapped a clawed hand around it and picked it up, chirping at it and shaking it to see if it would move. When it didn’t, he tossed it off to the side. Much to Lance’s surprise, once thrown the object veered away from the straight path he had set for it. Lance clicked in excitement and chased after the object, bracing himself against the ground to turn more quickly without the extra balance of his lost dorsal fin. 

The object barely managed to settle on the ground before Lance reached it, and he spent a good deal of time throwing it through the water and chasing after it when it abruptly turned a different direction than anticipated. By the time he had tired himself out with this exercise and resorted to gnawing on the strange toy, the human male had returned to his earlier position of leaning over the tank edge. Toy forgotten, Lance flicked his tail and surged out of the water, splashing the human who only laughed once more.

“I did tell Allura you were bored. It appears that hypothesis has been proven correct.” The male said, gesturing with one hand towards the toy and then to a content Lance. Lance only let out a soft purr, happy that someone had correctly interpreted his message. The language barrier was making life with these humans very difficult.

“We have something special for you today.” The man said, and suddenly his second approach made sense. In his hands was a bucket, which by the smell was presumably filled with fish. Lance warbled in excitement, recognizing a few of the lingering scents. The food smelled like home, rather than the nasty silver things they had been leaving for him previously. He was not even sure those were true fish, they tasted so awful. 

But these. These were without a doubt from the ocean. 

Lance had his assumption confirmed as the human dumped the contents of the bucket into the water in one easy motion. A bright burst of fish swam out, all different sizes and color variations standing out starkly against the white-blue of his tank. Without hesitation Lance gave chase to the fish, hardly pausing to savor each as he caught it. He was starving for real food, and all too soon the bucket of fish was nothing more than a memory. Lance whistled sadly to the few drifting scales that remained, and sheepishly returned to the human with a few lazy strokes of his tail. Once his head had emerged from the water he gave the human his best puppy eyes, begging for more of the tasty fish. 

The man at the surface only smiled, reaching over to playfully ruffle Lance’s hair. Lance leaned into the touch with a pleased chirp. He had admittedly missed the affectionate contact that his pod had provided, and this felt similar to something that the elders would have done. Disappointingly quickly the hand was retracted, and the man was speaking again.

“Well then. I really must be off, I have my regular duties to attend to as well.” The human said, straightening up with a stretch.

“If you have need of anything, just shout for ‘Coran.’” 

Lance cocked his head to the side at the new word. _What in the great blue is a Coran?_ He wondered, before realizing it must be a name. He jolted with this recognition, hastily calling his own out in a mix of chirps and clicks as the man- Coran, reached for the door. He turned back with a smile, repeating a slightly off version of Lance’s name back to the mer.

Lance fell asleep easily that night, the toy he had been given by Coran clutched tightly against his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter was a bit over a week in wait time. I had midterms and spent a good deal of time revising chapter 1. I'm still not satisfied, but oh well! Next chapter Lance will finally get to meet Pidge and Hunk, I promise. And he gets a tank upgrade.


End file.
